Grip wheel



March 21,1928.

o. A. ELLIS -GRIP WHEEL Filed June 27. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Mar. 27,1928.

[UNITED]STATES enrr wanna Application filed June 27, 1921;. 'Seria1Nog48Q820.

This invention relates to wheelsor sheaves such as are used for the transmission of power by means'of cableor rope drive.

The general object of the invention is p 6 to'provide a wheel or sheave of this character which will positively and firmly grip the rope or cable and thuspreventfslippage. Specific objects are to provide a grip wheel of the above character which will be siml ple and'cheap in construction .and'practical and efficient in operation. 7/

Inorder that the invention may be readily understood, reference is had to the-accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and in which v F ig; 1 is a side elevation of one form of my improved grip wheel, parts being broken away and parts omitted for the' sake of clearness; i 20 Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse section similar to Fig. 2, showing a modified construction. i

Fig. 4: is a'diagrammatic view on a small scale, showing a rope transmission employing the type of wheel or pulley shown in Fig.3." 1 v Figs. 5 and 6 are a side elevation and transverse section respectively of a slightly 80 different form of wheel or pulley.

' I Fig. 'Z is a transverse section showing one 'method'by'which the gripping members may I be simultaneously adjusted axially of the wheel. s Fig. 8 is a similar view showing a slightdifferent method of simultaneously adjustirig, the' grippingmembe'rs and, also illustrating; t e type offlange embodied in Fig- .msgena Fig."9"isafragmentary detailshowing part ofi'the'ge'aringillustrated in-Fig. 8. ""Referring to the drawings in detail and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, -1 designates a wheel or pulley, the. body through these flanges '3 and 4 are a series of slots 7, and V V in these slotsare located my improved, pivoted gripping members 8. Each of these of which may be of anydesired construcmembers is in the nature of anarm having atone end'a concave or forked seat com- I prising the branches-8 and 8 and pivoted at its other end .on a pivot pin; 9 carried by a:fixed bracket 10- projecting laterally '60 from -one facelof the pulley'f- The parts are preferably so proportioned that the anglebetweenthe axis of the gripping arm, as indicated'by the line'w, and the plane of thewheel, indicated by the line *3 is greater than 45, as such an arrangement gives: a better. gripping action; Furthermore, the lines 02 and'y should intersect at the centerof the rope or cable.

Formed in the bottomof the groove 5 ad- .70 ja cent' each slot7, isa pocketll adapted to receive a cushion spring 12 on which the gripping member 8 normally rests.

It will therefore be seen that when tension is applied to the rope or cable 6 the stress ofsuch tension will force the gripping members inwardly against the pressure of the springs 12, thus causing them'to swing upon their pivots!) and pln'ching or gripping the ropebetween the fork 8* and the flange 4 ofthe'wheel, as clearly shown in Fig, 2. It is obvious "that the greater the pull onj-the rope the tighter will it be gripped, and therefore slippage is entirely prevented under all loads and conditions.

. It'will be noted that as the gripping memberspass out from under the-rope or cable,

they are thrown outwardly by centrifugal force, aided by the springs 12, so 'that,- as they again'pass underfthe rope, they are in "99 full open or rope-receiving position. i

IIl Figs; 3 and 4. I have illustrateda constr'uction which I have foundadvantageous where power is to be transmitted betweentwo pulleys 1 and '15, mounted on shaftsig l2 and 2 disposed at angles ,to eachother.

In'this case the pulley 1- *is provided with peripheral flanges 13 and 14, the flangell being disposed at a muchgreater angle to the plane of the wheel than the flange-13. 0 As in Figs. 1 and 2, the wheel isprovide'd with ajseries of transverse slots, designated 17, and in these I slots workfgripping mem-' bers 18, pivoted at 19 to'fixed brackets 20, carried by the wheel adjacent the inclined flange 14. These gripping members are provided with forks18 and 18,", fork'l8, ad-

jacent the inclined flange, preferably having a cam surfaceas shown in Fig. 3 and serving to gripthe rope 16 between itself and 1 10 I I the opposite flange 13. I have found that grips of thisnature very much improve the operation of angularly disposed pulleys such as shown in Fig. 4:. V

While as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the grip ping members are all pivoted on the same side of the wheel, I have found it advan' tageous in some cases to. pivot them alternately on opposite sides of the wheel. The effect of this is to deform the rope loop from a true plane by displacing it slightly in alternately opposite directions, the resulting zig-zag'form increasing the efl'ective gripping action. Such an arrangement is shown in Figs. 5 and ,6,and'inthese figures I have illustrated the wheel as equipped with six gripping members instead of four. It will, of course, be understood that any desired member of such gripping members can be employed ineither modification.

,Some of the grippin members as designated at 28, are pivota lly mounted on, one side of the wheel while alternate gripping members, such as designated by 28, are pivotally. mounted on the other side of the wheel. All of these members work in slots 27 extending transversely through the flanges 23 and 2d of the wheel 21.

Also, instead of being carried by fixed brackets as shown in the other figures, I have illustrated the gripping members 28 and 28 in this figure as pivoted at 29- to arms 30 slidably mounted in the wheel and adjustable aXially't-hereof by means of nuts 34 working over threadedshanks 33 carried by such arms. The arms 30 slide in grooves or channels 31 and between the end of each arm and the end of its channel is interposed a helical spring 35. Thisspring tends to hold the gripping members in the position shownin Fig. 6, and tends to shift them to the left if the nuts Mare loosened. Also these springs hold the gripping members yieldably'and permit them to move toward the right in Fig. 6, should such movement become necessary; This yielding mounting for the gripping members permits them. to shift laterally in case a joint-or other obstruction inthe rope or cable is encountered,

. members axially of the wheel.

and the adjusting nuts 34 permit of shifting the gripping members to accommodate ropes of different sizes. A spring 32 is interposed between each gripping member and itssupporting arm 30 in order to yieldingly hold the gripping member out in rope-receiving position. i I

In Fig. 7, I have. shown a construction substantially similar to that of Fig. 6, and in addition have illustrated means for simultaneously shifting or adjusting the gripping To this end the threaded shanks 33, instead of co-operating with the wheel body as in Fig. 63, extend through a floating ring 36, and the adjusting nuts 34 work against the outer face of such ring. The springs 35 are interposed between this ring and arms 30. V Y

A series of cam levers 37 is provided, each Of such levers being pivoted at 38 to a bracket 39adjustafbly' secured in the wheel collar 42 slidably mounted on the hub 43" of the wheel. A relativelystationary shifting fork or member 4,4 engages the sleeve 42 and is' adapted to be moved by means of a rod 45 passing through a fixed support, and having a threaded outer end 46, on which'works a. hand wheel 47 mounted between the fixed support and a bracket lS. It is obvious that by turning the hand wheel 47, the rod 4.5 may be reciprocated and the sleeve 42 and ring 36 correspondingly shifted in onedirection or the other.

In Fig. .8 I have shown a; slightly difierent operating mechanism. Here, a shifting fork 44 is attached to a rod49'having a screw threaded end on which works a worm wheel 50 held by asuitable bracketl Meshing with this wheel 50 is a worm 51 carried at the end of a shaft 52, provided with an operating handle 53 which eoopera;tes"with a fixed circular rack 54 by means of which the handle 53 may be lockedin any desired adjusted position. Also, in Figure 8, I have illustrated-the wheel as equipped" with flanges 13 and 14', disposedvat difierent angles, as shown on a larger scale in Figure 3.

It v will thus be seen that I have provided an automatic grip Wheel or sheave which lends itself'to a variety of uses, and it is thought that th e many advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated without further discussion.

What I claim is 1. A grip wheel comprising a pair of pe-o ripheral flanges forming between them a groove adapted to receive a rope in intimate contact. therewith and a series "of' grip 'members mounted to swing about radially fixed pivot pins carried by said wheel and ldcated adjacent to but both laterally of and radially inward of said groove,-each of'said members havinga portionlocated atthe bottom rofsard groove and extending under the rope,

and when swung on its pivot, serving to grip the rope between itself and one of said peripheral flanges.

2. A grip wheel havinga pair of peripheral flanges forming. between them a groove one side thereof, and located radially inward of the bottom of said groove, and a spring yieldably holding said grip members in a non-clutching position, each of said members having a concave seat extending into the groove, under the rope, and serving, when swung on its pivot, to grip the rope between one wall of said seat and one of the said pair of peripheral flanges. V

3. A rope pulley having two peripheral flanges, both disposed at an acute angle'to the plane of the pulley, and forming between them a groove, one of said flanges being disposed at agreater angle to the plane'of the pulley than the other, and a series of grip-' ping elements pivoted laterally of the pulley on'the side thereof adjacent but at a point radially inside of the said flange forming the greater angle, and each having a cam surface adapted to grip the rope'between itself and the otherrflange.

4:. A grip Wheel having a peripheral ropereceiving groove, a series of pivoted gripping members carried by the wheel and extending transversely of said groove, and means for adjusting the pivots'of said members axially of the wheel.

5. A grip wheel having a peripheral ropereceiving groove, a series of pivoted gripping members carried by the wheel and extending transversely of said groove, and

means for simultaneously adjusting the pivots of all of the one side of the wheel. 6. A grip wheel having a peripheral rope receiving groove, a series of pivoted gripping members extending transversely of sa1d gripping members on V groove,.and a series of armson which said gripping members are mounted, said arms being slidably carried by said wheel and ad.- justable relative thereto.

7. A grip Wheel having a peripheral rope receiving groove, a series of pivoted gripping members extending transversely of said groove, and a series of arms on which said gripping members are mounted, said arms being slidably carried by said wheel and capable of yielding axially thereof. 7

8. A grip wheel comprising a'pair of -peripheral flanges, a series of slots extending transversely through said flanges and a series of pivoted gripping members lying therein and each extending entirely across the space betweensaid flanges, each gripping member having a forked rope receiving seat, both ends of said forked seat lying within said slots at all times. I I

I In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

OSCAR A. ELLIS. 

